#1
Apparently operation stack is in force on M20. Anyone know why?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#2
industrial inaction in calais.
good to see that the new prime minister over there has changed the cultural thinking.!!
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#3
Yes the fishermen are at it again and complaining bitterly about fishing quotas. I know its inconvenient but you have to admire the ability of the french to still be able to take strike action when their cause deserves it. This is a skill that seems to have been lost here in the UK. Our strikes are weak and as a result the workers here have no real power, no real strength anymore. I wouldnt like to see a return to the strike ridden seventies but this is the type of action that was needed in the recent DHB dispute. Without action at this level all strikes are a waste of time....they simply limp out into nothing.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#4
it is a shame that our fishermen join in before during or after.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#5
i think that you are being a bit idealistic paul.
this is simply a wild cat strike that only hurts people coming back from their easter break.
the eurocrats just sit and laugh, they still get paid.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#6
Yes Im probably being a bit idealistic there and I do have sympathy for those trying to get back home after Easter...I suppose on the plus side at least the strikers didnt do it over Easter itself.
During the recent strike here though on this side of the channel about the DHB cutbacks, there were early 'optimistic' sugestions by the strikers here at the time, that they were going to disrupt services and bring the port to a stanstill. It didnt happen, they just didnt generate the power..everything continued flowing sweeter than vintage wine. Not good news for the strikers, as management and shipping companies could afford to just ignore them and ignore them they did. Result: they all cowed back to work defeated. But, had they brought the port to a standstill...well...
#7
True - I refer us again to Billy Bragg, There Is Power in The Union............but only if we enable it.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#8
PaulB - we are all better off because of it. Strikes solve nothing and just cause more problems.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#9
it causes no problem at all barry as you well no,at least they will get there qoutas uped once again while our fihermen sit on there hands and do nothing.
#10
Strikes: the final and most potent weapon in the working mans and womans armoury - the withholding of the labour that enables others to become wealthy. Don't tell me they don't achieve if they are properly managed!!!
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#11
Strikes cause problems only to those who want the status quo to remain. But change has to happen, very often for the better or otherwise we would still be in the dire industrial relation strife of those cloth capped olden times. How else can a working person have any influence. But it has to be effective. We saw ineffective action very recently by the DHB workers, they had no tools at their disposal, they failed to knock the DHB management out of their comfort zone...the management just breezed through assured of certain victory - not good.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#12
Those who have been damaged most by strikes have been the strikers themselves. Time and time again this has been proven. Strikes have been what has sped the total demise of whole industries they have made them uncompetitive and ineffficient. Anyone who goes on strike is crazy or naive or both, stuck n some strange hinterland of them and us.
You need to remember that businesses must be and remain profitable or everyone in that business will lose their jobs. Actions that destroy profitability destroys jobs.
#13
The right to protest and withhold labour must be respected - and it is a self deception to think that strikes only damage the strikers wellbeing - in cases where that happens it is probable that it would have happened anyway but without the disruption to the "bosses".
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#14
bern,
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#15
let us be honest here, the lily livered brits will accept the problems caused by the strike.
haulage firms lose a small fortune, drivers jobs are in jeopardy, firms do not get expected deliveries.
the general public are inconvenienced.
the french fisherfolk will get an increased quota, our politicians make no attempt to exact retribution.
next school holiday it will happen again(probably) the port workers this time.
Guest 667- Registered: 6 Apr 2008
- Posts: 919
#16
I just wonder if our fisherman were to block off say Dover and Ramsgate how long it would be before the Royal Navy is brought in.
Yes there is a right to protest and strike and I am not against strikes as the final act of standing up for your rights and have done so myself in the past. However the French appear to block the ports no matter what their cause is and go straight for it, so sorry I think it is time that the French Government stood up to them and did some thing about it. Why should industries and people over here loose money and put up with the inconvenience caused by the French.
Some small and one-man truck companies will probably go under because of this strike and blockade. So yes it is for the fisherman's livelihood they take this stand but who is going to look after the English companies going under because of this in these hard times for everyone, some small companies this could well be the final nail in their livelihood.
The police over here have to run operation stack and who just is paying for that every time these blockades happen.
So no it is not a joke and they should be forcibly removed from the harbour, right to strike or not.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#17
Harry I fear you are right re the navy coming in if it was blockaded here but that probably means that we have less rights here than the French..there are so many anti union rules and laws here that we'd have no chance of such a thing. The rules are very much in favour of the establishment here, you only have to look at the way the police handled the G20 summit...see the footage!
However I would be just as livid as the next man if I was stuck in this strike and there must be some way forward...but would this way forward require massive amounts of French government legislation!? Its all liberty and fraternity over there so I cant see them doing anything to erode the rights of citizen robespierre!
Here is a picture of the blockade from BBCTV...its Calais I believe..
Guest 667- Registered: 6 Apr 2008
- Posts: 919
#18
Liberty and Fraternity for All well for all that want to flex their muscles that is, all the rest can go to hell.
So those that are affected by this do not have the same rights, they just have to put up with it and if they are a small business effected by it they loose their liberty to carry out their livelihood. I am not against their cause or their right to strike. I am against the fact whenever the French want to strike or protest they head down to the ports and people over here are disrupted, loose money and some times their livings.
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
#19
Just heard that the French are lifting their blockade at 20.00 tonight as a goodwill gesture but will be back at 06.00 tomorrow, until their demands are met. Ferries have left Dover en route for Calais according to AIS.
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#20
the freanch goverment will no doubt give in as useall with the fishermen getting a larger qouta and we brits getting a smaller one.what will our fishermen do nothing but whinge and whine.
email: dover7@msn.com